Despite The Downturn, I Feel Wealthier Than Ever

I don’t know why but I always get a little pensive during the holiday season. This is the time when I like to lie down, stare at the ceiling in total silence and reflect on my life for the past year. Holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving tend to amplify my mood. If I’m depressed, then I get more depressed, but if I’m happy, then I’m absolutely beaming with joy. This year, I’m fortunate to have many things to be thankful for. In just the span of 9 months, I feel like my life has finally come together.
For starters, I have become extremely wealthy. No, I didn’t suddenly get rich and I don’t have a huge amount of money. I don’t have a house yet nor do I drive a fancy car. But this is what I do have and why I consider my life to be so affluent.

My Daughter

See that little chicken? That is my cute little daughter. If you browse my blog, you’ll see her adorable little face plastered all over the place. She is nine months old right now and one of the joys of my life. While I used to focus all of my energy on my day job, I now prioritize all of my time around spending time with my wife and child.
It’s a great feeling. Whenever I come home from work, my wife and daughter are right there to greet me as soon as I walk in the door. Even when I’m hard at work and slaving away in front of the computer, I know I’ll always have a big group hug waiting for me when I get home.

My Wife

I’m thankful to have a wife that puts up with me. Whenever I’m in a bad mood or have a bad day at work, she knows exactly what to say to make me feel better. I can’t explain how she does it, but it’s almost like she can sense and read my mind. I wish I could read her mind as well to return the favor and I hope to develop this skill someday.
My wife is also the heart and soul of the family. She keeps the household intact and organized and takes care of our daughter on a daily basis. She’s also the brains behind our online business. I couldn’t ask for a better package of cuteness, brains and generosity.

Our Online Business

My wife and I were extremely worried that we would have to hire a nanny or resort to day care to take care of our daughter. I know it wouldn’t have been the end of the world, but we really wanted one of us to stay at home to take care of her especially for the first couple of years. Thankfully, our online business has allowed my wife to quit her job and remain home with our daughter.
We’ve been extremely lucky to have found our business niche. Starting our business has not only been profitable from a business standpoint, but it has also brought my wife and I closer together as well.

My Family

I’m also extremely thankful to have supportive parents. Even though my parents came to the US with practically no money at all, they still found a way to support me through college. They’ve always been extremely supportive of all of my activities and continue to be a large part of my life.
I just hope that they don’t spoil my daughter too badly. Right now, they have this tendency to buy her whatever she wants:)

Our Health

We’ve had a few health scares this year, but thankfully my wife, child and I are all doing fine. Looking back, there were many things that could have gone wrong but did not. For example, both my wife and I had car accidents the year where we easily could have gotten hurt but escaped injury.
My wife was in labor for over 16 hours but eventually delivered our daughter without a hitch. We had our fair share of panic attacks early on when our daughter was losing too much weight but thankfully, we were able to resolve all of her health issues in a timely manner.

My Friends

As luck would have it, many of my friends happened to have kids right around the same time as my wife and I. While we didn’t see our friends very much before, we now see each other more than ever thanks to arranged play dates for our kids.
I’ve also met many new people this year. Thanks to this blog, I’ve met and befriended many new people across the globe. You know who you are. Thanks for supporting my blog!

My Day Job

I’m thankful for actually having a job that I like and coworkers that I want to associate with on a day to day basis. I can’t imagine what life would be like if I had to go to a job that I absolutely hated. I just hope that my little company can survive these harsh economic conditions.

What’s Missing?

Up till this point, I haven’t yet mentioned money. I’m actually pretty happy with where I’m at even though I haven’t met my financial goals. I’ve come to discover that I don’t really need much money to be happy at all. Honestly, I feel filthy rich to have my family and friends supporting me. Screw money! I’ll take more wealth any day.

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Reading about your wife’s 16-hour labor brings back memories of my own traumatic labor when I had my first kid. Mine was 18 hours and I couldn’t take any form of painkillers due to some complications so I actually fainted twice and had to be slapped awake (I’m serious!). I am thankful to be alive, and that my baby turned out cute as pie.

That was a very warm and inspiring post for the holidays … I don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here in Singapore, but gratitude is an energy that I’ve always loved. Thanks for sharing that.

Thanks for the kind words. I’ve been doing a lot self-evaluation lately and this article was the result. Looking forward to reading your article.

Hi Irene,

She is delicious isn’t she? I take bites out of her cheeks on a regular basis. My wife’s pregnancy was nowhere near as severe as yours. She was on an epidural the entire time though it was still pretty painful. Happy Holidays!